The present invention relates generally to a toy water gun and, more particularly, to a pressurized toy water gun having expandable bladders for achieving a constant pressure water discharge and selectable nozzles for discharging either a continuous stream or several short pulsating bursts of liquid.
Pressurized squirt guns that eject water and other liquids and other toys for discharging liquids from a pressurized reservoir are generally known in the art. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,929,151 to Clayton discloses a water squirting toy including a freestanding base upon which a water gun is supported. The toy includes a garden hose connector to facilitate connection of the toy to a household water supply. The gun can be operated to discharge water directly from the household supply while supported on the base. The toy may be provided with couplers for releasably joining the gun to the base, and the gun may include a water storage reservoir so that the gun can be separated from the base and independently operated to discharge water. The gun may also include an expandable bladder in fluid communication with the garden hose connector to receive and store water prior to pulling the trigger to discharge the stored water.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,799,827 to D'Andrade discloses an expandable bladder toy water gun. The toy water gun includes a main housing having a barrel and water ejection nozzle, a handle and a trigger, as well as an inflatable bladder connected to the main housing, with the bladder having an inlet and an outlet. The toy water gun also includes a storage tank for supplying water thereto, as well as a hand pump connected to both the storage tank and the bladder. The pump is physically connected to the housing and functionally connected to the storage tank and the bladder inlet. A bladder release valve having an upstream side and a downstream side is connected to the bladder outlet at the valve's upstream side, is connected to the trigger for opening and closing thereof, and is connected to the nozzle at the valve's downstream side for subsequent water ejection when the trigger is pulled.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,366,108 to Darling discloses a toy water gun that can release a directed stream of water from a pressurized receptacle. The toy water gun is connected to the pressurized receptacle by a flexible hose and a pull on the trigger releases a directed stream of water. In one embodiment, the receptacle has a one way valve attached thereto that allows pressurized water to only enter the receptacle. A flexible tube is attached to the one-way valve on one end with the flexible tubing terminating with a hose fitting on the other end attachable to a hose bib. The pressurized water is supplied by a water system such as a municipal water supply. Another embodiment uses a bladder inside a receptacle containing trapped air that is connected directly by flexible tubing to a shut off valve which is further connected by flexible tubing to a hose bib that supplies pressurized water. When the receptacle is fully charged and the pressure in the receptacle is equal to the pressure of the municipal water supply, the shut off valve is turned off and the flexible tubing to the hose bib is disconnected at the shut off valve. A flexible tube is then connected from the shut off valve to the toy water gun. The shut off valve is then turned on and the toy water gun is ready for use.
Sprinkler toys discharging bursts of liquid are also known in the art. U.S. Patent Publ. No. 2005-0211805 to Eddins et al. discloses a sprinkler toy and a method for producing a geyser-like burst of liquid supplied by a source of pressurized liquid. The sprinkler toy may include a reservoir in fluid communication with the pressurized liquid source, wherein the volume of the reservoir may increase as the liquid is supplied to the reservoir by the pressurized liquid source, and wherein the pressure within the reservoir may increase as the amount of liquid within the reservoir and the volume of the reservoir increase. The sprinkler toy may further include a valve in fluid communication with the reservoir and operatively coupled to the reservoir, wherein the valve may be moveable between a closed position and an open position, wherein the increase of the volume of the reservoir from a first volume to a second volume may cause the valve to move from the closed position to the open position, and wherein the pressure within the reservoir when the valve moves to the open position may cause a geyser-like burst of liquid stored in the reservoir to discharge through the valve. In alternate embodiments, the sprinkler toy may further include nozzles in fluid communication with the pressurized water source and providing a constant discharge of liquid, and a housing having moving components that move in response to the increase in volume of the reservoir.